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Having a Few Friends for Thanksgiving

Yes, my grammarians out there, I understand the significance of the title. It suggests that my friends are the main course. I like it because it reminds me of Hannibal Lecter’s little closing line, “I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner.” Hannibal meant it, as intended. We should rightly assume.

Photo credit below.

I, however, am just playing around. After all, I’m not on a Chilean soccer team that has crash landed somewhere in the Andes. I’m comfortable and sitting at my desk chair in Los Angeles.

So, it would be better said…I’m having a Thanksgiving with friends.

There are some major benefits to having Thanksgiving with friends over fam. Let’s go through them. Shall we?

1. Everyone at the table will have voted on the same side. Wifesy can not go a day without saying, “My boss complained about Obamacare again…” Oh, lawd. Such crybabies. I get it. You think it’s going to cost you more. You think it’s going to be a mess. We hear you. Yet, the problem is, no one really knows for sure. I’m guessing there was a very similar outcry -long ago- over another medical plan, let’s call it, “Medicare.” And now no one wants to part with it. Let’s discuss what we do know — every civilized nation on the planet has some sort of universal healthcare. We are the 10th richest country in the world. Not making sure our citizens are insured is embarrassing at best and incomprehensible at worst. Not insuring people due to pre-existing conditions is barbaric. Forcing everyone to have healthcare, so that the rest of us don’t have to absorb the costs of the uninsured who must go to the hospital is a good thing. The costs of prescriptions are too high…for PEOPLE WITH JOBS. Not, for the trying to buck the system sorts or the 47% that Romney believes lie around and do nothing, but for the people with jobs – prescriptions are too high. That’s what we all know. Let’s wait and see what happens with the rest. As for my Thanksgiving, I’m rejoicing in the fact that we are all -most likely- going to talk about something else!

2. I get to learn how to make a ham. I have no feckin’ idea how to make a ham, but I have been assigned it like a project at school and I’m going to try and make it edible. I am also going to try and get it to smell like those clove-ish things.

3. People will be drinking booze for the right reasons. At my friends gathering, there will be booze, but none of it will be consumed -most likely- to shut off any feelings! Okay, maybe that’s not how you dealt with it at your house, but that’s how we dealt with it at mine. A memory from a Thanksgiving past: Did Mom just say to me, “I don’t understand why a single person has a queen sized bed??!!” Well, no point in analyzing it. Where’s the pinot grigio?

Pinot grigio, smoothing over

4. We can make horrible, “We abused the Indians jokes…” My stable of friends on fb and elsewhere have been unleashing a stream of, “Thanks for the corn, sorry for the smallpox” type jokes. The truth is while giving thanks is a great idea, we really did do it at the expense of an entire people. They helped us, we robbed from them. “Are you enjoying those shiny beads, Chief Shoulder-pads? Thank you for Manhattan.” See what I mean? It’s fun to soothe some collective guilt this way. But, the traditionalists (if they were at my Thanksgiving) would scream, “First you don’t want to celebrate Thanksgiving! What’s next a ficus on Christmas?” You see, there’s the exaggeration component that I just don’t understand. I never said I don’t want to celebrate Thanksgiving. I simply want to do it surrounded by a stream of, “Boy, we fecked over the Indians” jokes. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel better. It makes me feel…more American.

While I love my fam, I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this Turkey day full of friends with NONE of them related to me. I’ll think of it as my way of giving thanks…to myself.

***

End note: Not sure, but I may take a break from the blog for a few days, just to re-group, check-in, and gather up some post ideas. But, I will be lurking around the internet doing other things. So, feel free to join me here – twitter – or here – facebook – or here – linked in.

Super end note: I believe there’s a brand spanking new post up over at Canadica by the wonderful Kimberly. Be sure to check that out and show her some love by clicking HERE. And of course, to all of my American blogger friends, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. To my int’l ones, carry on. 😉

*** Sweet Mother is updated daily-ish. Click the link at the top of the page to follow this blog.

I refuse to cook ham. Unless it is diced up and put in scalloped potatoes. I may take a slice of cooked ham to throw in a frying pan to cook it up properly (dry), but only if there was no disgusting sweet stuff coated on the outside. You may get the idea I don’t like ham. You would be correct.

loooool. i hear you. i love the way it smells though, baking in the oven. i know this will involve cloves, but this is about all i know right now… looool. and i must try that scalloped potatoes thingy. xo, sm

Peal and slice a bunch of potatoes, mince up some onion, dice up or buy diced ham. Put a layer of potato, onion, and ham in a pot. Prinkle in a tablespoon flour, shake in Nutmeg and Pepper. If you like spice, add a dash of Cayanne. Put down a few pats of butter. Add another layer of potatoes, onion, and ham. Add same seasonings. Add butter. Do one last layer. Exclude the seasoning Pour a half cup of warmed up milk into it. Heat slowly, add more milk if needed. Cook until potatoes are tender. Oh, add a dash of salt here and there. I always am easy on the salt and a little heavy on the nutmeg. It can be baked but stove top cooking is faster so long as you keep an eye on it.

Okay, by the numbers: 1. All Hannibal Lecter jokes and references are great. 2. In this country, health care should be free to all. It should be a right. 3. You don’t make ham, you bake ham. Pigs make ham. 4. The are no wrong reasons to drink booze. As the country song says, “I’ve had the best times I can’t remember with alcohol.” 5. Jokes are just that, jokes! They are funny and should not be held to PC standards. I like to tell people to “lighten the feck up.” Hope you have an a-MAZE-ing Thanksgiving. HF

I haven’t had Thanksgiving with my extended family in so many years that I can’t even remember. It is a happy forgetfulness. This year, we will have a baby for Thanksgiving for the first time, but not Johnathan Swift-style ;D Hope you have a great one, Moms!

bwwwaaaahahhhhha. that’s so cool. little miss c’s first tday. let her break the wishbone… and i don’t know how you got away from the fam for so long over tday, but i deeply admire your accomplishment. lool. xo, sm

Before I even opened the email, I immediately thought of Hannibal Lecter when I saw the title of your post, LOL! Great minds, eh? I am envious that you’re not having to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with family, but doing it the way you’re doing it. I am hosting lots of my family for the first time ever and I’m super-stressed! However, I need to THANK YOU for reminding me of the awful Indian jokes; I now have my toast to the family all prepped and ready!

it is not complete without the awful indian jokes. and if you can get a member of the tribe to make them, even better. looooll. wifesy and i do couple-ish thanksgiving or have for the last couple of years because we were abroad. so, this is our first one with friends in LA. i’m looking forward to it. tho, mom is coming the sat/ sun after thanksgiving. and i’m SURE i’ll be writing about that little 70 year old tsunami soon enough. so, you never get out of it entirely. 😉 good luck, ramelles, it sounds like you’ve got your hands full…and let us all know how it goes. xo, sm

Oh, we got that ‘member of the tribe’ thing down: my mother is 1/8 Cherokee, making me what…1/16? I never can figure that shite out. Can’t wait to hear about your momma’s visit; I’m sure there will be hilarity (filled with love, of course!) forthcoming!

Oh, number one is a big one. I love to talk politics, and the majority of my family shares my blue views, but by this time tomorrow I’ll be in the home of an in-law who is on the opposite end of the political spectrum. I must keep my mouth full of turkey so that I don’t speak my mind. Fingers crossed…

looooooool. try my father! he’s got fox news on 24/7. it’s awful. my brother and i have never ending ‘discussions’ with him and it’s always a disaster. lord. well, stay strong, my sistah. and remember turkey has all that tryptophan (sp?) in it so you can always take a nice long nap… xo, sm

Re politics: America is doomed unless our leaders learn to work together and stop looking for scapegoats.

re the North American aborigines: Jokes are awesome, but I wish people would get two things straight. One, they’re Native Americans. There wasn’t really an America back then, so that PC name is BS. Two, *we* did not rip them off. Our ancestors did. Then again, they weren’t exactly sitting and knitting either. Some of the NAA’s did some grimy stuff too. What really bugs me, though is how modern folks only cry over how bad the NAAs were treated. I don’t recall hearing any crying over how the Celts were treated by the Anglos, or how the Saxons treated the Anglos, or the Vikings treated the Anglo-Saxons… It’s in the past. We can’t change it and whining about it does nothing. If you want to be completely different from our ancestors, *be* different from them today.

oh yeah… hello, “micks need not apply” signs everywhere. that happened to MY ancestors. it’s a thing that hasn’t stopped and won’t stop. and EVERY country has it. one group comes in, everyone picks on them, then they become successful, and a new one comes in, and the cycle continues. i don’t know why, but i think the indian jokes or native americans or whatever, are a tiny bit funny. and jokes are how i get through anything. within reason, of course. anyhoot, have a great turkey day. i know i will. xoxo, beck

I love jokes of all kinds (sorry if I didn’t communicate that too well). Here’s a couple for you:

Why did the Soiux go into the restaurant?
Because they gave him a reservation!

There once was an Indian whose given name was “Onestone”, so named
because he had only one testicle. He hated that name and asked everyone to not to call him Onestone. After years and years of torment, Onestone finally cracked and said, “If anyone calls me Onestone again I will kill them!”
The word got around and nobody called him that any more. Then one day a young girl named Blue Bird forgot and said, “Good morning, Onestone…”
He jumped up, grabbed her, and took her deep into the forest where he
made love to her all day and all night. He made love to her all the next
day, until Blue Bird died from exhaustion.
The word got around that Onestone meant serious business. Years went by and no one dared call him by his given name until a woman named Yellow Bird returned to the village after being away for many years.
Yellow Bird, who was Blue Bird’s cousin, was overjoyed when she saw
Onestone. She hugged him and said, “Good to see you, Onestone…”
Onestone grabbed her, took her deep into the forest, then he made love
to her all day, made love to her all night, made love to her all the next day, made love to her all the next night…but, Yellow Bird wouldn’t die!!!!

What is the moral of this story???
You can’t kill two birds with one stone…

I was fortunate to enjoy family Thanksgivings back in the Midwest, but now that hubs and I are in Maryland, we’re usually on our own. But it’s a great day to spend in DC and enjoy the wonderful cooking of a great restaurant. This year, it’s Vidalia. And we won’t have to worry about cleaning the kitchen. 🙂

Not plugging my blog at all, but I did want to give you some ham cooking advice; okay, it’s more like what NOT to do. I won’t spoil it. Good luck with that bad boy, though! Happy guilt-ridden, wine-enhanced Thanksgiving, mama! (Didn’t know you were in LA. For some reason I thought you were a poshy east-coaster.)

I’m having friends for dinner too – oops – over for dinner, or rather a huge late lunch. I may have to toss in a few Indian jokes – that should make for some lively talk – I’m pretty sure most of my pals didn’t vote with me – I love ’em anyway. Have a great Holiday!

Although family was on their best behavior (almost) this year, I had much rather spend any time with people I like to be around.
Agreed with the Obamacare, but actually I would prefer the universal health care, all free!